Fat Tuesday
by FaithinBones
Summary: Booth helps Caroline celebrate Fat Tuesday.


(Season 3)

A/N: Fat Tuesday is the day before Lent starts. It's a holiday in Louisiana.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Congressman Wayne Guidry represented Louisiana's Congressional District 3, Cajun Country. He was a freshman congressman and was still learning the ropes, but he already knew who to pay attention to when it came to his constituents. Guidry was there to represent anyone living in District 3, but he knew that he couldn't ignore people like Ms. Caroline Julian. She might be a resident of Washington D.C. but she still had ties back home and she had the ear of powerful Louisiana politicians. She was a very successful prosecutor for the Attorney General's office and it was better to have her on your side than to have her against you.

As was the custom of many of the representatives of Louisiana, he knew that it was part of his job to show Louisiana off in a good light and one way to do that was to have a Mardi Gras party just before Lent. Both Louisiana Senators usually had big affairs and invited every mover and shaker in the District, but Guidry didn't want to go that route. Instead, he invited some citizens from Louisiana and their families who happened to be the Washington D.C. area at the moment. He planned to have a crawfish boil on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday. He would have had it on Fat Tuesday, but he knew that most people would have to work since no one got that day off unless they were actually living in Louisiana. It was a State holiday in Louisiana, but the rest of the states didn't celebrate Mardi Gras therefore their state offices were open for business and their employees had to work. Such a shame.

Ooooooooooooooooo

She marched into Booth's office and sat down on the chair near the door placing her purse on the floor next to her feet. "Fat Tuesday is coming up."

"Are you going home for Mardi Gras?" Booth was busy and he hoped Caroline's visit would be a short one.

"Of course not. You know I'm prosecuting the Anderson case." Caroline decided to be straightforward about what she wanted. "I've been invited to Congressman Guidry's crawfish boil this Saturday and I need a date . . . If you're not doing anything I'd like you to take me. There will be some very important people there and it couldn't hurt your career to talk to them and eat with them."

If there was one thing he detested it was politicians. "You know I don't care about that crap. I'm a cop and I'll get where I want to go by doing my job and doing it well."

"Yes, I suppose." Disappointed that Booth was turning her down, she tried a different tack. "Well, it would be nice if you went with me so I don't have to go by myself."

She was backing him into a corner and they both knew it. "I thought you were dating that guy from Homeland Security."

"That cochon? It turns out he's not my type." Caroline had liked Calvin until their third date and the man had started to try to control her. No one controlled Caroline Julian. If she dated someone she expected an equal partnership. "I dumped his ass last week . . . So you won't go with me?"

He considered Caroline a friend and he knew if he didn't go with her he'd feel guilty about it. "I don't have Parker this weekend and my case is stalled until I track down a witness, so I guess I can go with you."

"Gee, don't hurt yourself." Caroline stood up. "You can pick me up at eleven at my house. The boil starts at noon."

Once she was gone, Booth leaned his head on the desk. "God, I hope they speak English this time." The last time he'd escorted Caroline to a Louisiana shindig, the host had insisted on speaking Cajun French to everyone and Booth had to get Caroline to translate for him. Caroline had considered her host to be a prick and she had finally told him to speak English since most of his guests weren't conversant in Cajun. The man had complied, but clearly Caroline had ruined his fun.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Fat Tuesday was early that year, February 5th and that meant Congressman Guidry's crawfish boil was going to be held in the snow. The man had hired a large tent and numerous space heaters, but no one was comfortable and thought the congressman could have just had a party instead of a crawfish boil.

When Caroline arrived, she took in the tent and shook her head. "Merde', this is ridiculous."

Booth agreed. "Let's leave. No one will miss us." He was wearing a coat, gloves, a scarf and a hat and he was still cold.

"If I hadn't promised to be here, we would." Caroline lifted her scarf and wrapped it closer to her mouth and nose. "Congressman Guidry is new to the north. He'd better start watching the Weather Channel if he knows what's good for him."

Pointing at the tent, Booth hoped for some warmth in the enclosure. "Come on, it's starting to snow harder. Let's see what it's like in the tent."

Proceeding Booth in the tent, Caroline was greeted by Congressman Guidry's wife, Ann.

"Oh Cher', you can tell we're new to the area. We never thought about it snowing a few days before Fat Tuesday."

Amused, Caroline laughed. "It is early for Fat Tuesday, but you really need to consider the weather before you do anymore crawfish boils . . . This is Seeley Booth." Caroline placed her hand on Booth's arm. "He's an old friend and he was brave enough to come with me."

Giggling, Ann shook Booth's hand. "If I didn't have to be here I wouldn't be. Cher' the last time I saw temperatures like this my water heater broke because of frozen pipes and damaged my hallway and the floor of my house. I have no idea why some houses in Louisiana are built with water heaters in the attic, but I told Wayne that the next house we get in Louisiana will have it in a closet or something."

Booth found Ann to be refreshing and not the stuck up pain in the ass most politician's wives were or at least the ones he had met. "Putting the water heater in the ceiling does sound like a reckless thing to do."

"Oh it is." Ann waved at someone coming into the tent. "I hope you'll excuse me. I'm the door greeter this afternoon. Don't feel like you have to stay if you get too cold. I'm just glad you came. Wayne would have been disappointed if no one had shown up."

"We'll stay, Cher', at least for a little while." The area inside the tent was warmer and Caroline felt warm enough to remove her gloves and scarf. Her coat pockets now full, Caroline found an empty table as there were plenty to choose from and sat down. "We won't stay all afternoon, but I came to eat crawfish and I want some."

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth sat down and removed his gloves. "That's fine. I want some crawfish too."

Ooooooooooooooooo

With a steaming pile of boiled crawfish on the table in front of them, Caroline and Booth were enjoying them when Congressman Guidry came by and sat down by Booth. "Thanks for coming to my little boil." He looked at the empty tables and laughed. At least half of his invitees had not shown up. "This Cajun boy should have known better than to set up a crawfish boil in a tent in February around here. The next time I'll hire a hall or something."

A crawfish tail in her hand, Caroline paused. "You'll learn Wayne. This place was a shock to me when I moved up here. All this snow and ice. I like to froze my first winter here, but I adjusted and I bought a really good coat and a warm pair of gloves. Booth is from Philadelphia and he isn't too impressed with the snow around here . . . the couillon."

After he swallowed his mouth full of crawfish tails, Booth smiled. "It's all what you're used to. I've worked in deserts and I've worked in snowy mountains. You just have to tell yourself its temporary and move on."

"Well Booth, I'll keep that in mind when I'm freezing my ass off driving to work on Monday." Guidry laughed, picked up a crawfish, tore off the head and sucked out the fat. "My wife and I are going to be peeling crawfish all night. No way we can let them go to waste . . . If you two want to take some home, please do so. Take as much as you want."

"Thank you, Wayne, I'll do that." Once the congressman had moved on to one of his other guests, Caroline winked at Booth. "Well, it's a good thing I brought you with me. I'm going to bring back a gallon bag full if they'll let me and you can help me peel them. I can put them in my freezer." The look on the Agent's face made her laugh. "Come on, if you help me clean the crawfish, I'll make you a loaf of crawfish bread and I'll make you some etoufee."

He hadn't expected such a generous offer. "Oh, you've got a deal." It's not like he had anything else to do. "It's too bad Bones is a vegetarian. When you give me that loaf of bread and etoufee, I guess I'll have to eat all by myself." He would share with his partner if she asked, but he knew she wouldn't ask.

"Uh huh." Caroline peeled another crawfish and popped the tail in her mouth. "Thanks for coming with me. I know you didn't really want to come."

"Sure I did." Booth loved seafood and once he had found out there would be crawfish he hadn't really minded that much. Besides, he was Caroline's friend and she deserved his support when she needed it. "There's a game on tonight. We can watch it while I'll help you peel your crawfish."

Since he had done her a favor, she could be generous. "Of course and I have beer in the refrigerator and some pralines in my cookie jar."

"Alright. This is turning into a very good weekend for me." Free crawfish, free beer, pralines and a game on Caroline's 50 inch television. "Oh yeah."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Happy Mardi Gras everyone.


End file.
